Arsonist tries to torch Brockton mayor's SUV while parked at his home

Marc Larocque Enterprise Staff Writer @Enterprise_Marc

Wednesday

Dec 5, 2018 at 5:24 PMDec 6, 2018 at 4:01 PM

Someone intentionally set fire to Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter's city-issued vehicle, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. Carpenter has previously received death threats that were deemed credible by police.

BROCKTON – An arsonist attempted to torch Mayor Bill Carpenter's city-owned vehicle over the weekend, according to state and local officials, in an incident that has sparked an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

Carpenter, who had received death threats in 2015 that at the time were deemed credible by police, was not present at his rental home on Pearl Street at the time, and was outside of the country during a trip to Cape Verde. Carpenter's family members were home at the time, but no one was hurt.

The incident was discovered after-the-fact on Saturday afternoon, according to the Department of Fire Services. The fire caused minor damage to a city-owned 2015 Ford Explorer that is driven by Carpenter, according to the Department of Fire Services.

"Nothing is going to interfere with my ability to do my job every day," Carpenter said Thursday morning outside his home. "I don't get distracted easily, I've been threatened before. I think the part that's just personally upsetting to me is the fact that this happened about 15 or 20 feet from the side of my house where there are a couple of bedrooms and my family was home."

State officials said investigators have concluded that the mayor's vehicle was the target of an intentionally set fire on Friday night.

"The fire in the 2015 Ford Explorer had self-extinguished and suffered minor damage," said the Department of Fire Services, in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon. "No one called the Fire Department at the time of the fire, and the fire damage was discovered on Dec. 1 in daylight. Investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set, most likely sometime the night before."

Reached on Wednesday, Carpenter said he just got back from Cape Verde and wants to learn more about the incident before commenting in-depth. Carpenter declined to immediately answer questions about the motives surrounding the intentionally set fire.

"I think I need a chance to find out a lot more about what happened," said Carpenter, speaking to The Enterprise. "I was halfway around the world."

Carpenter has received death threats previously, including in 2015 when a man was arrested and charged after making the threats online. The charges were later dropped, but at the time late police Chief Robert Hayden said the mayor had received several death threats that were credible. The threats prompted Hayden to assign the mayor a special police escort.“I’ve been aware of numerous credible threats against the mayor’s life and against his family’s life,” Hayden said in 2015. “They are serious and they have caused me to believe the mayor’s life could be in jeopardy.”

Carpenter, who has a son on the Brockton police force, was away from Brockton on a trip to Cape Verde during the most recent incident, where he joined a delegation from Bridgewater State University. He left Nov. 25 and returned Wednesday. It was not clear why police spokesman Darren Duarte, Carpenter's former chief of staff, did not disclose the incident earlier in the week.

Later on Wednesday evening, Carpenter issued a statement to The Enterprise.

"We appreciate all the concern expressed by the public and the media," Carpenter said. "As you can imagine, this is a difficult time for my family and I. We have faith in the state and local public safety agencies involved to complete a thorough investigation."

Carpenter said on Thursday morning that he may not have released information on the incident had media outlets not found out about it.

"The timing of talking about it is because you guys found out about it. If you hadn't found out about it, I don't think we'd still be talking about it," he said. "From my own personal standpoint, I'd rather, if I had the opportunity to not acknowledge it, I just think that is encourages someone to do something stupid if they think it's going to get attention."

The Department of Fire Services said the shocking incident on the city's West Side is being jointly investigated by the Brockton Fire Department and state police assigned to the state fire marshal's office.

State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said investigators are seeking help from the public to solve the arson case, with tipsters being asked to call the the state's Arson Hotline at 1-800-682-9229. Ostroskey said anyone who provides information that leads to the case being solved may receive a potential reward of up to $5,000.

"If anyone has any information about this fire, please call the Arson Hotline confidentially, 24 hours a day, at 1-800-682-9229," Ostroskey said.

Enterprise staff writer Cody Shepard contributed to this report.

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